An inch of ice accreted over the previously fallen four inches of snow.
This was at 7 am; now it's up to 37°F and everything's melting. It will
re-freeze later today, with more snow tonight and a low of 15°F. The
stores have been out of calcium chloride for over a week now, and
supplies of rock salt are also scarce. The trick is to try to get the
concrete clear and dry before the next storm arrives.

But it's better than the droughts, wildfires, hurricanes and tornadoes
they experience in the south. Like I told a friend, in two months it'll
be spring, but you'll still be in Texas.

For after all, the best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it
rain.-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

If I were running the world, I would have it rain only between 2 and
5 a.m. Anyone who was out then ought to get wet.-William
Lyon Phelps

Into each life some rain must fall,Some days must be dark and dreary.-Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow

Irrigation of the land with seawater desalinated by fusion power is
ancient. It's called rain.-Michael McClary

Rain is grace; rain is the sky condescending to the earth; without rain,
there would be no life.-John Updike

Save a boyfriend for a rainy day-and another, in case it doesn't rain.-Mae
West

Some people walk in the rain. Others just get wet.-Roger Miller

Spread the diaper in the position of the diamond with you at bat. Then
fold second base down to home and set the baby on the pitcher's mound.
Put first base and third together, bring up home plate and pin the three
together. Of course, in case of rain, you gotta call the game and start
all over again.-Jimmy Piersall

The best time to listen to a politician is when he's on a stump on a
street corner in the rain late at night when he's exhausted. Then he
doesn't lie.-Theodore H. White

The drowning man is not troubled by rain.-Unattributed

The rain fell alike upon the just and upon the unjust, and for nothing
was there a why and a wherefore.-W. Somerset Maugham

The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the
rain.-Dolly Parton

There are times, however, and this is one of them, when even being right
feels wrong. What do you say, for instance, about a generation that has
been taught that rain is poison and sex is death? If making love might
be fatal and if a cool spring breeze on any summer afternoon can turn a
crystal blue lake into a puddle of black poison right in front of your
eyes, there is not much left except TV and relentless masturbation.-Hunter
S. Thompson

Those who profess to favour freedom and yet deprecate agitation, are men
who want crops without ploughing up the ground, they want rain without
thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its
many waters.-Frederick Douglass

Trouble will rain on those who are already wet.-Unattributed

We will never be an advanced civilization as long as rain showers can
delay the launching of a space rocket.-George Carlin

We get an occasional heatwave, a tornado or two, some flash flooding and snow. According to
NASA, the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida is arguably the most active area in the world
for waterspouts, with hundreds forming each year. Some people speculate that waterspouts are
responsible for some of the losses recorded in the Bermuda Triangle.

Widespread flash flooding in the Pittsburgh area this morning due to heavy rains.

We live in the Library Heights area of South Park Township, so we have no flood problems.
But it's pretty much impossible to go anywhere. My wife couldn't make it to work this morning
because all the main roads have major intersection flooding.

The video above shows Library station, the end of the line of the Port Authority of
Allegheny County's light rail transit system. The tracks are under about four feet of water,
and commuters retrieving their cars this evening are going to be unpleasantly surprised.

They're predicting more heavy storms this afternoon, so Pittsburgh readers ought to consider
hunkering down for a while. If you live anywhere near a road with "Run" in its name (Saw Mill Run,
Thompson Run, etc.) you can be certain you're going to be affected.

No matter how bad your Monday morning is, odds are you didn't have to
wade through belly-deep snow in order to pee. There's about five inches
of snow out there now and it's still coming down. Late March snows
really aren't that unusual, and we get an average of 1.5" in April. And
on May 9, 1966, we got 3.1 inches. So quit complaining.

I like dogs in snow pictures. Here Riley and Sassy try to figure out why
I'm pointing that flashy clicky thing at them instead of rolling in the
three and a half inches we got from yesterday's clipper system.

God is so busy making sure women get pregnant, I don't know where He
finds time to make a hurricane.-Andy Borowitz

Bill Maher: "You once called Mitt Romney the most intellectually
dishonest man in politics. Do you still believe that?"Barney
Frank: "I would strike the word 'intellectually.' "-(Real
Time with Bill Maher, 10/26/12)

If you are having trouble multi-obsessing over both the hurricane and
election I will be visiting my mom and will get some tips.-@pourmecoffee

Bloom's Taxonomy defines educational objectives in terms of three core
domains: knowing/head, feeling/heart and doing/hands. These categories
are also useful in dating.-The Covert Comic

How Not To Get A Picture Of Me.Lesson 1: poke my girlfriend in the
back at baggage claim and offer her money.-Sir Patrick Stewart

There are few things more laughable than a political party that can't
get its lie together.-Robert Brault

If they just called it 'Survivor: Evil/Dumb/Hot/People.' people would
start watching again.-John Fugelsang

Good thing Zooey Deschanel just sang the anthem cuz it's not like
Detroit has a rich and vibrant musical history to draw from or anything.-Jay
Satellite

Detroit gave us Motown, Aretha, Bettye LaVette. But none of them has a
Fox TV show, so, hey, let's get Zooey Deschanel to sing the World Series
anthem.-Greg Kot

Pittsburgh generally only gets remnants of hurricanes, but sometimes
they do wreak havoc. The heavy rains and flooding from Agnes in 1972 and
Ivan in 2004 come to mind. And we've been nailed by large cyclonic
storms, like 1993's "Storm of the Century." But I don't think we've ever
had to deal with a hybrid beast like this one, especially one with high
winds over a sustained period of a day more.

As a public service, here's something to take your mind off the coming
apocalypse: one of the dumbest- and funniest- movies ever made.
Absurdist humor at its best.

Bob: I didn't know you smoked.Nick: Just after sex, Bob. I'm trying
to give it up.Bob: Well, at least you don't smoke that much.Nick:
About a pack a day.Bob: That'll kill ya!Nick: Bob, it won't kill
ya. But it will make you very sore.

MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS...PERHAPS LONGER. AT
LEAST ONE HALF OF WELL CONSTRUCTED HOMES WILL HAVE ROOF AND WALL
FAILURE. ALL GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL...LEAVING THOSE HOMES SEVERELY
DAMAGED OR DESTROYED.

THE MAJORITY OF INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS WILL BECOME NON FUNCTIONAL. PARTIAL
TO COMPLETE WALL AND ROOF FAILURE IS EXPECTED. ALL WOOD FRAMED LOW
RISING APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL BE DESTROYED. CONCRETE BLOCK LOW RISE
APARTMENTS WILL SUSTAIN MAJOR DAMAGE...INCLUDING SOME WALL AND ROOF
FAILURE.

HIGH RISE OFFICE AND APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL SWAY DANGEROUSLY...A FEW
TO THE POINT OF TOTAL COLLAPSE. ALL WINDOWS WILL BLOW OUT.

AIRBORNE DEBRIS WILL BE WIDESPREAD...AND MAY INCLUDE HEAVY ITEMS SUCH AS
HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES AND EVEN LIGHT VEHICLES. SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES AND
LIGHT TRUCKS WILL BE MOVED. THE BLOWN DEBRIS WILL CREATE ADDITIONAL
DESTRUCTION. PERSONS...PETS...AND LIVESTOCK EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL
FACE CERTAIN DEATH IF STRUCK.

POWER OUTAGES WILL LAST FOR WEEKS...AS MOST POWER POLES WILL BE DOWN AND
TRANSFORMERS DESTROYED. WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING
INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS.

THE VAST MAJORITY OF NATIVE TREES WILL BE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. ONLY THE
HEARTIEST WILL REMAIN STANDING...BUT BE TOTALLY DEFOLIATED. FEW CROPS
WILL REMAIN. LIVESTOCK LEFT EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL BE KILLED.

My kids were born in 1976 and 1977. The hottest day on record in Pittsburgh occurred in 1988;
the coldest in 1994; the snowiest in 1993; and the rainiest in 2004. So you can tell grandma and
grandpa to stick a sock in it when they start telling you about how extreme the weather
was "back in the day"...